March 4, 2006 — Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on Friday stressed the importance of a guest worker program for the security of the nation during a visit to Brownsville.

"We are in the midst of a serious discussion about a guest worker program," Chertoff said Friday at Alice Walker Hope Park, which is on the bank of the Rio Grande with a view of Gateway International Bridge. "Not as amnesty, not a reward, but a constructive mechanism to allow migrants in the U.S. to assume a strong labor demand."

...A guest worker program would allow U.S. law enforcement agencies to spend more time focusing on "dangerous" elements "we really worry about," rather than on the many thousands of people who come to the country seeking work, Chertoff said.

Chertoff was accompanied by Mexican diplomats to announce the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two countries.

Secretary of the Interior Carlos Abascal and Secretary of Public Safety Eduardo Medina Mora joined Chertoff to speak about the plan that aims to reduce border violence...